What to expect from Y Combinator's Demo Day, when founders pitch their startups to top Silicon Valley investors

Every year, Y Combinator has two funding cycles — one goes from
January through March, and the other is from June through August.

At the end of each of these funding cycles, participating
startups pitch their ideas at Demo Day to potential investors who
want to fund the next big thing in tech.

Y Combinator provides funding to startups and perhaps even more
importantly, gives visibility to startups to help them catch the
eye of top Silicon Valley investors. Companies like Stripe,
Airbnb, Twitch, Reddit, Zenefits, and Dropbox are all Y
Combinator alumni.

Here are a couple of the Y Combinator Winter 15 startups we've
had our eye on:

Campus
Job.Founded by
former Googler Liz Wessel, this startup is a marketplace for
college kids looking for internships and jobs. About
90% of the positions offered on Campus Job are
paid.

Magic. This text messaging-based concierge service
takes the on-demand economy to the next level. Instead of
having its own app, you text a phone number that gives you 24/7
access to 'anything you want as long as it's not
illegal.'

He offers a few pieces of advice to founders of startups that are
about to pitch their companies to an audience that includes
potential investors: Know what your Series A round needs to look
like, and raise the right-sized round. Founders should vet VCs
like they're going to be employees. Have a backup plan. Don't
optimize for ego.

"You’re about to raise the most important money your
company will ever take," he says. "It has the more potential than
any other financing to kill your company if done poorly. And done
well, will give you the resources and support you need to grow
your business."

There's no official list of companies since Demo Day has yet to
happen, but Andrew Torba, the CEO of a Y Combinator W15 startup
called Kuhcoon, has
put together a Product Hunt list previewing some of the
companies to look out for today at Demo Day.